All-Star: Same As It Ever Was (Part I)
Time was running out for Nathaniel J. Carter.
It was all on him. All of it. Up until now, Nate had been playing it fast and loose; It was only a matter of time before it came back to bite him in the ass.
He was running out of time.
Come on, Nate, he thought to himself, gritting his teeth in the darkness. Time to make a move...
"Nate!" a voice called out at him from behind. "You've got 20 seconds, damn it!"
He knew that. Of course he did. It wasn't the first time he was left walking the tightrope without a safety net and it definitely wouldn't be his last. He had one shot at turning it all around, one bullet left in the chamber.
And he knew just where to put it.
Pulling back his hand, Nate slowed his breathing and focused. One shot, he thought through a sweating brow. One chance... His target was picked out. He had his shot. With an almost feral roar, Nate moved his hand forwards and let go.
Going...
Going...
The football flew through the posts a mere seconds before the buzzer sounded. 52 - 50. They won. The crowd flew into uproarious cheering as the final verdict of the game flashed above their heads and an 16-year-old Nate Carter fell to his knees, his excited teammates instantly zoning in to tackle him affectionately.
"Bang." he muttered, with an arrogant smirk as they piled on him, whooping and hollering.
"Just like that, the Hudson High All-Stars have won the game!" The attention-grabbing voice of the announcer yelled out in ecstasy. "Hudson High's star quarterback pulls a victory by the very skin of his teeth, and we wouldn't have it any other way, would we folks?!"
Nate flung his helmet to the floor as his teammates rose him above their heads, making sure to flash the middle-finger at the losing team as he soaked up the attention. With a roar, he raised his hands above his head, eliciting another round of cheering from the crowd.
Right here? Right now? Nate Carter was a God. And this? This was his Valhalla.
The Hudson City All-Stars sat in the locker room, excitedly talking to one another as they got changed.
"Oh, man," Brick said "I can't believe Nate pulled that shit off! That was intense!"
"MVP, my man," Nate replied, grinning. "MVP."
The entire room laughed at Nate's joke as they threw their dirty uniforms into their bags and got ready to leave.
"Hey, Nate. My folks are outta town, so me and the rest of the guys are having a kegger." Bulldog practically shouted, slapping Nate on the back. "Everyone's going to be there. Interested? You could bring Sally with you."
Nate held back a chortle. "Sally Grey? She's old news, Bull. She wouldn't even put out, y'know? Besides, I'm going to nab me a college chick down at the mall."
Mac frowned from his bench. "You dumped Sally? Why, bro? She's cute."
"Mac, look at me: I'm this dump's star quarterback on my way to a scholarship at MCU. Do I look like I have time for cute?" Nate responded, arrogantly gesturing to his abs before pulling his shirt on. "Besides, I haven't -really- dumped her yet."
Sammy gave Nate a playful jab as he walked by. "Dude, you're a dog." Nate gave a wolf whistle in response, sending the entire locker room into wolf whistling and whooping as they exited to the main hallway, only to run into a skinny, young boy with ginger hair. The boy collided with Nate, falling onto his back and dropping his soda.
"Hey! Watch it!" Nate cried out as the boy slowly sat up, rubbing his head. Nate's look of outrage was quickly replaced with a bemused smile as he recognised the boy. "Hey, guys, look who it is! Snotty: Our favourite little pastime."
The jocks laughed as 'Snotty' stood to his feet, re-positioning his glasses on his face. "Scotty..." he murmured.
"Huh? What's that, Snotty?" Nate chuckled, placing a hand over his ear and leaning forward, mockingly. Scotty tensed up and stepped back. "Man, I just cannot- Guys, do you hear what Snotty's saying?"
"Sounds like a dog-whistle to me." Brick mused.
"Huh." Nate responded, grinning as he turned back to 'Snotty'. "Must be 'cause his balls ain't dropped all the way, yet." The jocks laughed again. "What are you even -doing- here, buddy? I thought you were allergic to sports."
"Probably came to stare at Sally like a freak again." Bulldog laughed, flicking 'Snotty' in the chest.
'Snotty' went red as he peered downwards. "C'mon, guys. I-I'm just trying to go home..."
Nate beamed, widely. "Hey, sure, buddy. Go right ahead."
'Snotty' walked forward, aiming to move past the group. Before he could get clear, Nate's hand firmly grabbed his shoulder.
"Y'know what?" He started. "I feel real bad for what I just did."
"Y-You do?" 'Snotty' asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Yeah. Tell you what, Scotty-Boy. We'll escort you home for the evening, free of charge."
"Uh...I-I-" 'Snotty' said, stammering "You don't have to do that."
Nate placed both hands on the trembling boy's shoulder's now as his team closed in on him.
"Oh, no," he said. "We insist."
Nate wiped his hands clean as Sammy and Bulldog locked 'Snotty' in the school's dumpster.
"Sleep tight, Snotty." He cackled. "We'll pick you up tomorrow morning."
The team walked away as the poor boy banged on the dumpster and wailed.
Man, Nate thought, It doesn't get any better than this.
